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The story of the 140 (5th London) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery 1939-45

LAST UPDATE: 27th August 2025

This site was constructed at the time of the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Dunkirk 1940 and has been continuously updated since then. It is an account of my father Eric West’s war in the 140 (5th London) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery and his subsequent captivity 1940-45.

I’ve added details of the history of the Regiment after 1940 and how its Dunkirk  survivors served across the globe throughout World War Two in Iceland, North Africa, Italy and South East Asia.

The 140th Field Regiment was formed in 1939 as part of the expansion of the Territorial Army and as an offshoot from the London-based 92nd Field Regiment. The Regiment joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France during March 1940. It is said they fired the first artillery salvo at the advancing German forces in Belgium after the invasion of the Low Countries on 10th May 1940. 

The Regiment played a decisive role in the defence of Cassel on 25th-29th May 1940 during the Dunkirk evacuation. I’ve pulled together many previously unpublished accounts of the fighting that took place there as the HQ staff and 367 Battery became part of 145 Brigade, tasked with a last-ditch and desperate defence of the French hilltop town.  I will suggest that the defence of Cassel was critical to the success of Operation Dynamo and the importance of this action had been under-recognised.

I have been very fortunate to have received a stream of new historical information through relatives of men of the Regiment and others, which has been added to the site through regular updates.  I hope I have mentioned them all in the Acknowledgments section. Apologies to any I have inadvertantly missed.

This website includes the abridged personal diaries of officers of the 140 Regiment, namely: Lt George Somerwill of 366 Battery, 2nd Lt Maurice Rowland of 367 Battery, Capt Ronald Baxter of 367 Battery & Capt Cecil Hood Adjutant of the Regiment.

With permission I have included previously unpublished accounts from Brigadier Nigel Somerset’s personal memoir. I’ve also added the full text of Major Graham Brook’s account entitled ‘Grand Party‘, a book published during wartime censorship in 1941.

The background research resulted in the publication of my fact-based novel about my father’s wartime and post-war experiences. It is entitled ‘The Psychiatrist: Conscript, Prisoner, Interpreter, Healer’ by John West, published by Fortis.

In the ‘Captivity’ section of this website, I have added the diary of Private Norman Gibbs. Gibbs was in an infantry regiment, captured near Doullens in May 1940, but after capture he, like my father, became a POW at Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf and the E72 Arbeitskommando at Beuthen and would have shared many of his experiences in captivity.

The site is dedicated to my father Eric West and the courageous, remarkable men who served alongside him in the 140 (5th London) Regiment, Royal Artillery.

© 2021-2025 John West All Rights Reserved.